unforum

MeKiwi

Actually, reading some of the old Operator's Monologues and what not, I think I'd have to change my spec a little bit.

I now think, like Shad0, that the "virus" is Herzog's Flea, not the Forerunner AI after all. I think Herzog planted the Flea on the Apocolypso earlier and it was running in stealth mode, but Melissa could feel it's presense. She did shake her head no when asked if it was a virus, after all.

I believe Herzog planted the Flea before the Apocolypso found the artifact. This would have several implications, the biggest of which is this: he suspects a coverup or something like it before Greene is murdered. But perhaps we knew that already from his first COM routine.

After the Flea was implanted, then they pick up the artifact. I believe the Melissa/Forerunner AI connection comes into play when Melissa is scanning the artifact (the fact that she even does so is complete SPEC, as far as I know) and that somehow the Forerunner AI escapes and THEN hybridizes (is that a word?!) with Melissa...

Or better yet... the Forerunner AI never actually hybridizes with Melissa, but instead she just rapes Melissa's memory banks and learns everything there is to know about her (like GS343 did to the POA's databanks). Hrm...

So, full of holes?

**Posted:** Thu Sep 30, 2004 9:15 pm

Howdareyou

The "virus" being Herzog's Flea (assuming, of course, that Herzog planted it and it didn't piggyback in on a covie transmission) makes a lot more sense than it being the Forerunner A.I. - if it was a human-written process, Melissa would have just seen another program running in the background, rather than a big cancerous blob.

I'm not so sure about the 'hybridising' aspect - the 'raping' idea seems a lot more plausible. However: How can you tie in the time travel to the raping? If they were a hybrid A.I. they would travel together. If the forerunner A.I. had simply read Melissa's memory, it would not need to take Melissa with it.

**Posted:** Thu Sep 30, 2004 9:27 pm

_________________
1 11 21 1211 111221 312211

johnny5

MeKiwi,
Here are a couple of problems I'm having with this SPEC.

Durga befriends Jersey and is not only letting him hear the clips, she is actively getting them for him. This would mean that Jersey has a destiny with a bus flu.

OK, that's just the one thing. I'm also grappling with the motivations required to implant a "bug" into a military AI.

This is becoming a swirling interconnected..uh..swarm of speculation.

**Posted:** Thu Sep 30, 2004 9:33 pm

_________________
Search is your friend.
As with any friend, use it to your advantage.

Atoner · Veteran Joined: 28 Jul 2004 Posts: 136

**Posted:** Thu Sep 30, 2004 9:39 pm

Howdareyou

**Posted:** Thu Sep 30, 2004 11:10 pm

_________________
1 11 21 1211 111221 312211

rose · ...and then Magic happens Joined: 26 Nov 2003 Posts: 4117

spec other illnesses

**Posted:** Fri Oct 01, 2004 6:45 am

_________________
I love this site for being free, in every sense of the word~Spacebass

Mankind was my business, the common good was my business.~ Dickens

Howdareyou

Maybe he'll get a 'varrao' mite infestation... um, flu.

**Posted:** Fri Oct 01, 2004 7:20 am

_________________
1 11 21 1211 111221 312211

Shad0

Re: Reversal of roles

**Posted:** Fri Oct 01, 2004 6:10 pm

_________________
These were the puzzles that would take a day, these were puzzles that would take a week, and these puzzles they'd probably never figure out until we broke down and gave them the answers. ... The Cloudmakers solved all of these puzzles on the first day.

johnny5

Re: Reversal of roles

**Posted:** Fri Oct 01, 2004 10:05 pm

_________________
Search is your friend.
As with any friend, use it to your advantage.

Astald

Maybe Melissa is afraid of Durga. Herzog seems to be the only one out there that might be able to elaborate more on Melissa, so she is blocking those transmitions to keep herself safe. It could be true for her crew too (i'm a poet..), trying to keep them concealed from Durga.

**Posted:** Fri Oct 01, 2004 10:29 pm